Key Rulings Concerning Cleanup of Former Grumman Sites

In this New York Law Journal column, SRZ partner Howard B. Epstein and special counsel Theodore A. Keyes examine a recent court decision regarding insurance disputes between Northrop Grumman and its insurers concerning the cleanup of former Grumman sites. Starting in the 1930s, Grumman operated naval aircraft manufacturing and testing facilities on Long Island in Calverton and Bethpage. In the mid-1990s, Grumman was purchased by Northrop, and the facilities on Long Island were closed and redeveloped. The former operations, however, left behind environmental contamination, which has been the subject of investigation and remediation operations over the last couple of decades. These cleanup operations have in turn led to the insurance disputes between Northrop Grumman and its insurers.